Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Somaliland:Foreign Minister addresses Council of Elders at Parliament

- Somaliland Foreign Affairs minister Dr. Mohamed Abdilahi Omar made lengthy speech on country’s foreign policy triumphs in front of Council of Elders that held an unusual session today at parliament premises. Dr. Mohamed Abdilahi kicked off his speech and said, “It is great honor and pleasure for me to come before the prestigious Council of elders that deserves respect and admiration from the nation. The world acknowledges the key role that you played in rebuilding this nation of Somaliland.

I have initiated the meeting in order to brief you when it comes to the tremendous responsibility that this nation bestowed upon us. The foreign minister spoke about the tenets that Somaliland foreign policy is based.

He said, “The main aim that this nation has set his foreign policy guidelines are of two prongs.

- The first is to gain recognition as an independent country and nation and being member of the world.

- The second is to have close cooperation with the world on economy, politics, and peace.

In 2001, the people of Somaliland unanimously voted in favor of opting for independence and it was the will and the wish of the people and cannot be hijacked or reversed.That decision is the basis for the policies of previous Councils and the current ones and he told that this has to bear fruit and it must be fought for as well.”

The minister reiterated that there is no other government that remains determined to protect, preserve and promote the interest of the people then the current administration. The minister said that one of the major issues chosen for this government is to capitalize on that decision taken by the people and to embark on mission of gaining recognition for the country.

He added that today Somaliland is headed by veteran politician well known in the emancipation era who was also one of the legends in that struggle. The ball is in the court of incumbent president Ahmed Siilaanyo and is determined to protect the interest of the country.

On the other hand, the minister told at the podium that once the current ruling party won the presidential elections, we assessed a road map towards the recognition of Somaliland and we came up with well-coordinated efforts in strengthening relations that Somaliland have with the world. The minister said that there were weaknesses that we set our eyes on and we came up with new strategy of correcting those errors when it comes to Somaliland’s quest for recognition.

The minister explains that the world knows Somaliland well and we tell the world that they should not turn blind eye to the will and wishes of Somaliland people. The minister sent clear message to the world by calling on them to measure and assess the feelings and our wishes that we want to be merited by giving recognition to this young, calm, quiet, and peaceful nation in the region.

The minister again repeated that Siilaanyo’s administration is committed to have robust ties with the Arab world. He mentioned that the president of Somaliland and delegation he headed visited to UAE and Kuwait this year. Once the president set foot on United Arab Emirates, it became clear that they changed their stance.

They had seen Somaliland as country that they can have relations with and pledged to carry out investment projects. They are now accomplishing twenty water wells. They are ready to start plans of bettering water which we expect them to begin soon.

The minister added that Kuwait which the president visited is embarked on renovating country’s airports be it Hargeisa and Berbera. He told that they contributed 10 million earmarked for renovating country’s airports. The minister spoke about recent relations that the government had with Egypt and said that Egypt being strong nation when speaking about African affairs specially Somaliland and Somalia. He further said that it is country that has got strong voice.

He added that last week the Egyptian ambassador to Kenya visited Somaliland and we held talks concerned on wide range of issues on the region and Somaliland’s interest. The Egyptian government is revising the policy towards the region and it extended an invitation to the government of Somaliland. Delegation will be heading to Cairo recently.

The minister expressed his content in attending two summits that IGAD held and he said that they demanded from the African Union to be presented again a comprehensive report conducted in 2005.

He affirmed at the meeting that the British government and Denmark doubled the humanitarian assistance earmarked to Somaliland and stated that they are ready to deal directly with Somaliland government.

Dr. Mohamed Abdilahi Omar, Somaliland foreign minister added the world delegations coming to the country demonstrate good sign. He affirmed that his governments have healthy relations with United Nations Organization and told that a comprehensive report were submitted to the UN Security Council and held special meeting with Somaliland in Nairobi.

This consequently brought about that the Un Security Council invited Somaliland to attend the General Assembly and we submitted lengthy report about Somaliland concludes the minister